Jack Wood earned his track-best finish at Indianapolis Raceway Park (IRP) on Friday night with a 15th-place result. The driver of the No. 91 Children’s Museum of Indianapolis Chevrolet Silverado RST made late gains in the event to capture his third top-15 finish of the season. The effort gained the team two positions in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Trucks Series owners’ point standings to 12th with one race remaining in the regular season.
Wood started the 200-lap outing from row 12 after timing 23rd in qualifying. At the drop of the green flag, the Californian gradually made his way forward in the opening stage and cracked the top-20 by lap 23. He advanced to 18th when the race’s first caution waved at lap 43. Crew chief Kevin Bellicourt and the MHR team outfitted him with four tires, fuel, and a wedge adjustment to aid his loose condition on corner exit and allowed him to restart 16th on lap 50. Wood took advantage of the late restart in the opening segment and was scored 12th at the end of Stage 1 on lap 60.
As Stage 2 went green on lap 69, Wood elected to restart in the top lane in 14th and fought to maintain position in the top-20. The balance of Stage 2 ran under green flag conditions until lap 120 when Wood was scored in 19th.
He came to the attention of the No. 91 team for his second and final four-tire stop of the night under the subsequent stage caution. On lap 129, Wood restarted 19th and was patient to preserve his equipment, which paid dividends as the race ran green until the conclusion. Over the final 45 laps, Wood methodically picked off positions as he made his tires and equipment last in the waning laps. He marched to 15th in the final 10 circuits and captured his best finish at IRP in three starts.
Jack Wood Quote:
“We ran the best we did all night at the end of the race, so that’s a big positive. We got the balance a little better throughout the night on our Children’s Museum of Indianapolis Chevrolet and were able to make our stuff last a little better than the guys around us. It’s a good points night to gain a couple spots in the standings and we’ll get ready for Shasta in the west car next weekend.”
McAnally Hilgemann Racing PR
